Portland firefighters knocked down a
smoky two-alarm blaze that erupted Monday in the attic of a church camp
building in Southeast Portland.

The building on fire was among three
large buildings at the camp across from the main Apostolic Faith Church at
5414 S.E. Duke St.

Crews found the fire difficult to vent
because the building's roof was curved and the surface slippery, so they
removed siding and extinguished the flames from the second floor, said
Battalion Chief Dan Buckner.

No one was inside the building, and
Buckner credited church officials for turning off the power and gas line
before firefighters arrived.

"Church officials were really dialed in,'' Buckner said.

Buckner said when firefighters arrived the bow-shaped roof and attic floor appeared about ready to collapse so crews were evacuated from the building. The shape of the roof made it too dangerous for firefighters to cut a hole in it for ventilation, Buckner said.

"That's something we routinely would do, but it's was just too slippery,'' he said. "There is no parapet to catch anyone who slipped; they would hit the ground."

About 50 firefighters were on the
scene. Fire officials called a second alarm because of the volume of smoke and to
relieve crews, Buckner said.

Investigators believe the fire started in a wall near the attic and are looking closely at electrical wiring as the possible cause. The fire caused an estimated $1 million in damages, fire officials said.